My opinions on matters of the day that, generally, have pissed me off.
Being described as a 'Surly Curmudgeon', by those who meet me on a good day, I have a poor regard for the human species.
This is my place for my free speech- not bloody yours. Crap under your own rock.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

A have been kicking around a project involving resistance to an unpopular totalitarian government.

This is not about the rock- throwing, car burning rioting or armed resistance, but about the more subtle methods used by those unable or unwilling to take up arms.

Even in the vilest regimes, there have been those who found a way to fight back- the slave workers of WWII, who managed to leave a bit of cotton waste in a fuel system, or grit in a gearbox.

In my story, we have a less overt form of fascism (slightly). People find ways of making the government's apparatus job more difficult- misinformation, over-reporting of 'suspicious activity', casting aspersions towards minor officials. Neighbors who start having parties and making noise to disturb the sleep of a local official. The farmers who leave supplies out, where the armed revolutionaries can readily find them. Contractors who are always a day late delivering or repairing goods and services to the government- and never do as good a job as they could.

Then there are those within the system who would fight back. The policeman who turns a blind eye. The storeman who makes supplies 'vanish'. The soldiers that break irreplaceable equipment.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Unfortunately, the Christchuch CDB is FUBAR. Even more unfortunate is the council/government meddling. They do not understand that the city WILL AND CAN NOT be build in the form it is in now.

The one thing that might salvage the crock of shit, is that so many are taking the money and bailing. Acre for acre, the land in that area is going to be worth less than a bit of stony bare land out the back of Springfield. As it is, the land is worthless, as high-rise is looking to be uninsurable- and there goes the business sector.

So, I say let it return to park with cheap land for those that will take the risk of building there. Maybe the cheap land will attract what the run-down semi-derelict old rentals used to. The bars, cafes and restaurants that were all done on a shoestring budget.

They were the appeal of the CBD- retail was dying well before the shakeup, as the shops relocated to the outlying malls- as they have been doing worldwide.

Bars, food outlets, boutiques and brothels can all be build in quake-resistant steel and timber and don't need to be more than two stories high.

Likewise, low-rise apartments catering to those who like that sort of lifestyle.

Friday, September 23, 2011

"A pillar of physics - that nothing can go faster than the speed of light - appears to be smashed by an oddball subatomic particle that has apparently made a giant end run around Albert Einstein's theories.

Scientists at the world's largest physics lab said today (NZ time) they have clocked neutrinos travelling faster than light. That's something that according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity - the famous E (equals) mc2 equation - just doesn't happen..."

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Many are of a sexual nature, deal with violence, horror and crime and might have only been fully read by one person in New Zealand - and that person decided they shouldn't be available to the rest of us.

A total of 1319 books are banned and a further 728 restricted in some way..."

So censorship is alive and well here, in the good old nanny state of NZ.

Apparently our high UV is good for our wines! Unfortunately, I lost the link and can't be arsed looking for it.

"...Remember that scene in The Young Ones where Neil the hippy, fearful of nuclear bombs, paints himself white to deflect the blast? It's the same concept, with the whiteness of the oyster shells reflecting the sun's rays away from the soil and into the canopy to help ripen the fruit faster.

We may not reach the same high temperatures that other countries do, but one thing we do have plenty of is UV.

We're about 30 per cent higher in UV here than our corresponding latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's a significant factor.

Rod agrees. "When I host people from overseas I tell them to think about New Zealand wines being ripened by light rather than heat and suddenly a light goes on. That freshness, vitality and brightness in our wines suddenly all makes sense. People get that..."

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

For a couple of years, the local greenies have been moaning about the lack of kerbside recycling here. Apparently, the kilometer or so to the recycling depot is too inconvenient for those who would save the planet (from whatever it needs saving from).

So they got it.

In one of the windiest places in NZ.

Now, the same types are crying about all the rubbish flying about town...

Monday, September 05, 2011

"...The head of the university's department of Maori studies, Mutu agreed with the findings and called on the Government to restrict the number of white migrants arriving from countries such as South Africa, England and the United States as they brought attitudes destructive to Maori..."

I think these types SHOULD be free to spout their vile bile. Be they extremist of ANY colour, they should be free to clearly state their position openly.

It's good to see their true colours and to know that these delusional loons are out there.

A man with a bald head and a wooden leg is invited to a Xmas fancy dress party.
He doesn't know what to wear to hide his head and his wooden
leg, so he writes to a fancy dress company to explain his
problem. A few days later he receives a parcel with a
note:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a Pirate's outfit. The spotted
handkerchief will cover your bald head and with your wooden
leg you will be just right as a Pirate. The man is
offended that the outfit emphasizes his disability, so he
writes a letter of complaint.. A week passes and he
receives another parcel and note:

Dear Sir,
Sorry about the previous parcel. Please find enclosed a
monk's habit. The long robe will cover your wooden leg and
with your bald head you will really look the part. The man
is really incandescent with rage now, because the company
has gone from emphasizing his wooden leg to drawing
attention to his bald head. So he writes a really strong
letter of complaint.. A few days later he gets a very small
parcel from the company with the accompanying letter:

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a tin of Golden Syrup.
We suggest you pour the tin of Golden Syrup over your bald
head, let it harden, then stick your wooden leg up your arse
and go as a toffee apple.